[thelist] resolution stats

Mark Gallagher mark at cyberfuddle.com
Fri Jun 7 09:39:00 CDT 2002


Kathy Long wrote:
 > I know this is an old question, so forgive me for asking again, but I
have a
 > client who wants his site designed for 1024 x 768 (meaning it can NOT
 > squeeze into anything smaller), and it goes against my grain. Everyone he
 > knows is at that resolution (he's a programmer), so he thinks most
everyone
 > else is as well. I told him I'd ask and see what others think.

It's true that in many cases 1024x768 is replacing 800x600.  But I think
the overwhelming majority of people still use 800x600.  It's hard to get
reliable statistics here, as (at least, AIUI) very few UAs actually tell
the server what resolution is running.

But ask your client to consider: what if they're running 1024x768, but
using windowed browsers?  What if they've got several docks going?
Until very recently I was running something like 1023x920 browser window
size (maximised) on a 1280x768 screen, simply because of all my docks.

 > It's a children's bookstore, so given that his audience is mostly young
 > parents, does anyone have any idea what the norm would be for that
group? He
 > doesn't care about the people who will have to scroll right - as long as
 > that isn't the majority. Will that be the case?

Hard to generalise, but I'd guess most'd have reasonably new computers,
but not know how to change from the defaults.  As Windows (at least,
Win95/98... dunno about the others) and X (at least, Redhat/Mandrake's
versions) default to 800x600 regardless of monitor size, it's quite
likely they'd be stuck to 800x600.

I was watching my mother's boss (a small business owner, reasonably
computer-literate) use the Internet a little while ago, and she was
running IE (4 or 5, I couldn't tell) on Windows 98 at 800x600.  It just
never occurred to her that she could or should change her browser and/or
resolution.

Exercise for the list: think back to when you were on 800x600 (or,
&deity; forbid, 640x480 or smaller running Win3.11/early Mac OS) using
the default browser (if there was one).  Of course, now that we've all
learnt that, yes, there is a world where you have a *lot* more screen
real estate, and you *don't* have to be tied down with the shackles of
IE (or, for those "veterans", Netscape/Mosaic), and it seems shocking to
go back to The Way We Was.  But before then, we (or, at least, I) were
quite happy with our small screens with large text and primitive
browsers.  Why would a newbie to the computing world feel any different?



--
Mark Gallagher
http://cyberfuddle.com/infinitebabble/





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